Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much the United Kingdom has spent in each of the last five years on monitoring the status of CITES-listed birds in their countries of origin.

Lord Rooker: It is difficult to gauge how much money is directly spent on the monitoring of CITES-listed species in their country of origin, as much of the Government's financial assistance that might meet this description is part of a range of broader projects that focus on building capacity in developing countries to conduct this work. However, the Government with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the statutory adviser on international nature conservation, provided £42,000 in 2005-06 and £7,957 in 2006-07 toward research conducted in Guinea to survey the occurrence and relative abundance of diurnal raptors subject to international trade. In addition, in 2006 the Government provided £20,000 of funding toward the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement to help to develop an international partnership that will support work associated with population assessments of waterbirds, including species listed on CITES, such as the Egyptian goose, red-breasted goose, Cape teal, Eurasian widgeon, giant heron, great egret, slender-billed curlew, greater flamingo and the demoiselle crane.
	In addition, through the Darwin Initiative, the Government have provided funding for a range of projects that aim to assist monitoring generally through capacity building, monitoring and population assessment focused generally at wild birds, not just CITES-listed species. The Darwin Initiative seeks to assist countries that are rich in biodiversity but have scarce financial and other resources to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
	As part of the Government's support for biodiversity in the overseas territories, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, jointly with the Department for International Development, provides funding to a broad range of programmes under the Overseas Territories Environment Programme, which assists in environmental management and the implementation of environmental charters in the overseas territories.
	The Government recognise the need to assist developing countries in conserving biodiversity and therefore support the Global Environment Facility (GEF), established in 1991, to help developing countries to fund projects and programmes related to biodiversity, among other things.

Lord Rooker: The most recent deer population estimates are:
	
		
			  England1 Wales1 Scotland Estimated annual percentage increase 
			 1. Red deer 15,000 <500 No data 6 to 7 per cent 
			 2. Sika deer 3,000 <100 No data 1.5 to 2 per cent 
			 3. Fallow deer 180,000 <5,000 No data 3.5 to 4 per cent 
			 4. Roe deer 250,000 <1000 No data 4.5 to 5 per cent 
			 5. Muntjac 150,000 <250 No data 14 to 15 per cent 
			 6. Water deer 5,000 0 No data 12 to 13 per cent 
			 1 The Deer Initiative (2006) 
		
	
	Estimating the number of deer in a particular area has always been problematic and the quality of records varies greatly. The Deer Commission for Scotland no longer publishes populations estimates and concentrates only on impacts of deer. There are no specific population figures for wild deer numbers in Northern Ireland, although the perception is that overall numbers are increasing. The general trend for all species throughout the UK in recent years is that they are increasing.

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Who within the Ministry of Defence is responsible for making available to the coroner conducting an inquest on the death of a member of the Armed Forces all the information held by the Government or to which the Government have access.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: In the latest completed financial year, 2005-06, £58,541 was paid in fees to the independent assessor of compensation for miscarriages of justice. Under the provisions of Section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the Secretary of State has no locus to overturn any assessment made by the independent assessor in respect of awards made under that section. As regards awards made under the now-abolished ex gratia scheme, successive Secretaries of State have agreed to be bound by the assessments made by the independent assessor.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: It is not possible to escape from open conditions as there are no physical constraints. Prisoners are classed as "absconders" if they absent themselves from Prison Service custody without lawful authority. All prisoners in open prisons have been convicted. The information requested is set out in the table.
	
		
			 Absconds from open prisons 2001-02 to 2005-06 by area of government offices for the regions 
			 GORs 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 No. Establishments** 
			 East Midlands 117 102 154 110 125 2 
			 East of England 8 14 36 40 18 2 
			 London 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North-East 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North-West 298 360 343 210 179 2 
			 South-East 109 197 292 187 192 4 
			 South-West 19 33 114 102 66 1 
			 West Midlands 15 23 31 24 24 1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 148 169 243 159 91 3 
			 N/A * 5 8 35 19 9 1 
			 *Wales is not a government region. Absconds for Usk/Prescoed are shown under N/A. 
			 **Moorland and Hatfield counted as one establishment

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Any change in Defence Logistics Organisation and Defence Procurement Agency manpower as a result of their merger into the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation will have no impact on the Royal Navy's fleet transformation process.

Lord Adonis: The department does not hold information on courses offered by higher education institutions. The latest available information on student enrolments is given in the table.
	
		
			 Undergraduate enrolments at UK higher education institutions1 
			  2004-05 2005-06 
			  First Degree Other Undergraduate First Degree Other Undergraduate 
			 Subject Area 
			 Medicine and dentistry 38,155 420 40,720 470 
			 Subjects allied to medicine 109,140 145,715 116,795 143,735 
			 Biological sciences 102,245 8,500 107,360 8,075 
			 Veterinary science 3,545 15 3,600 0 
			 Agriculture and related subjects 7,490 4,395 7,835 6,465 
			 Physical sciences 48,985 3,620 50,820 4,190 
			 Mathematical sciences 20,275 825 20,930 585 
			 Computer science 73,925 22,590 65,850 20,740 
			 Engineering and technology 78,215 16,715 78,010 16,725 
			 Architecture, building and planning 28,310 7,445 32,335 8,965 
			 Total science, technology, engineering and mathematics 510,285 210,240 524,255 209,950 
			 Other 642,355 237,370 667,015 238,135 
			 Total all subject areas 1,152,640 447,610 1,191,270 448,085 
			 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record data. 
			 Figures have been rounded to the nearest five; components may not sum to totals. 
			 1 Excludes the Open University